OMG I remember that movie, Midnight Express. I was actually stationed in Turkey while in the Air Force. We toured a Turkish Prison. It was really bad. I sure hope they’ve cleaned things up since way back then.
Loved your story, though. Sorry ya’ll had to go through that.
XOXOsTerri Sonoda recently posted..Monday Listicles – Ten FREE things I love

Well, there’s the incident at the Barcelona airport when my husband obviously had a brain fart and put 2 liters of Kettle One vodka in his carry-on, which led to everything being dragged out and examined…like the KY, etc.
Fun!

Once when Dave and I were in Mexico before we were married (so you know – way back in the last century) everyone exiting customs had to pick a marble out of a can. The marbles were black or red. Black marble meant no inspection. Red marble meant inspection. The majority of the marbles were black. Guess who picked a red marble.

Oh, Kim, of course it had to be you! But in a good sweet way. Shame on TSA for turning a moment of innocent forgetfulness into an international incident, and making you feel like a criminal. Grrrr. You’d think they’d have better things to do with their time. I wouldn’t mind them taking the sandwich away, but the fact that they made your family X-ray all your stuff is JUST RIDICULOUS! (Hope otherwise you had a great trip! 🙂 ) xxxxxxxxxxxxxx0000000000Jann Huizenga recently posted..Dawn Stroll, Deepest Sicily

We had breakfast our last morning on our vacay in St. Martian. So I get this bright idea to get these delish French cookies for my therapist who was literally saving. my sanity since the kids died.

Anyway,we get to the airport and they asked me if I had any food. Not thinking I said oh just some cookies from a bakery.

Crap!They pulled me out of the line And sent me thru an additional level of security. We had to run ..they were holding the flight because we were late over the darn cookies.Which BTW they didn’t even confiscate. Passengers not happy! So embarrassing.

Annette Molitor

May 6, 2013 at 3:17 pm

Well Kim, Their is food involved, but no airport. And I happened to remember this a few days ago as my sister was telling me a funny story. I was feeling down in the dumps after leaving my ex spouse. My friend Susie invites me to her nephew’s grad party. So I agree. It was better than feeling sorry for myself. So I go their and I know Susie, her sister Phillis, mom and her daughter Andrea. No one else really. But there was good food, beverages and company. I would get my plate and mingle. There yard is big and there are tents covering the area where the food is. I had thrown myself together and whipped my hair up into a clip. And it was the clip that caused the nightmarish, hilarious, only can happen to Annette moment. I filled my plate and was going to reach for a beverage. But I can’t move. OMG! I’m stuck! A metal thingy in the top of the tent has a death grip on my hair clip. I roll my eyes to the left. No Susie. I roll my eyes to the right. I see Susie with her back toward me but she does not see me. She is oblivious to my momentary source of embarrassing torture. You can pull it off I tell myself. I try to gracefully stretch my arm forward to lay my plate on the table with a plan to quietly inconspicuously pull my arm back and gently release my clip from the monstrous metal bracket. But instead, as I’m trying to pull this off, I’m leaning forward and strands of hair are falling down into my face. My chest is protruding as though I’m trying to show of my boobs in my summer top. It was obvious at that point that I needed help. A girl caught a glimpse of me and busted out laughing. Then I meekly said in a quiet voice. Help! She took my plate and I gathered myself together. The girl apologizes for laughing. I casually say, “It’s okay.” I run to Susie to tell her what happened because I feel like a six year old girl who just fell of the bleachers in an auditorium filled with adults. She chuckles a little, and I say, Susie, it was unreal. It’s right up there with your story of the hideaway bed folding up on you at Goodwill. Gosh it felt good to just talk about it. I mean I had to. Because it was an ordeal I could not laugh about at that particular moment. But I can now.

I don’t have any airport stories because I don’t fly (at least not in many years) but I do remember Midnight Express. It scared the crap out of me….stuck in another country’s prison with that awful guard. Whew…debbie recently posted..Vegan Banana Bread

OMG, that is priceless! The little drug-buster busts you for its lunch?! LOL 😀 Oh, Kim, that’s rich – and I don’t just mean the avocado sandwich.
Most embarrassing was actually most potentially embarrassing – or horrifying. Picture it: me and my Ya-Yas on our road trip to Prince Edward Island. We’re minding our own business, driving along in our borrowed minivan (with a letter from its owner, just in case). We breeze through the checkpoint between Maine and Canada. Well after said checkpoint, Ya-Ya Jos confesses that she forgot her credentials. No license (you only need a license then) to verify she is who she says she is.
Oh. em. gee.
When we arrived back at that checkpoint a week later, to cross back onto U.S. soil, I was driving, and Jos was behind me in the passenger seat. All of us were wearing sunglasses and cheerful smiles. We held our collective breath until the nice security guards waved us through.
We laugh about it now. It was part of the adventure. But at that time, not quite two years post-9/11? It was a really bad situation just waiting to happen.
Welcome back, honey! Love. xoxoEllen M. Gregg recently posted..Four Thoughts

Wow, kind of scary! And then I had to laugh at the sons and hubby’s reaction. Don’t we always somehow ’embarass’ them? A German Shepard at the Honolulu airport arrivals liked my carry on bag and the officer had to look through it. There was an apple (good old Canadian apple) with one bite out of it. I guess I changed my mind. Dumb ass. I was lectured on bringing foreign fruit into the US. Embarassing.lisa thomson recently posted..The Good Wife

It’s the officer who should be embarrassed. Embarrassed his stupid dog got all excited over avocado. What sort of dog is attracted to avocado. And after they hauled you off and went through all your stuff because clearly, anyone with half a sandwich in their carry-on has to be a major threat, they then made you go back and wait in line? Wouldn’t they, in the form of an apology, just usher you straight through? Airline travel just isn’t getting any better xxHotly Spiced recently posted..Slow-Cooked Lamb with Tahini Sauce and Quinoa Salad

This time around, through our Toronto/London/Delhi/Bangalore flight, I had to open my hand baggage and unpack four glass bottles and show it to every security check – that was eight times. I even had to show them my spirally bound notebook. I secretly suspect they loved the bottles – shades of blue.

😀 Sorry you had to go through what you did and sorry to say I was laughing as I read this! Come to think of it, I had a donut like thingy served by Air Canada – and I kept thinking I could been caught for carrying a weapon – it was so damn hard you know! I didn’t want to risk biting it for fear of an emergency trip to the dentist.

Kim Gagnon

May 6, 2013 at 9:08 pm

Oh Kimmy I can just see your face and feel your heat of embarrassment and agitation. You are truly an adventure!! Can’t wait to get together and hear about your trip! Love and miss you. Wine very soon!! Xoxoxo

Kim,
I did have something like that happen to me in Heathrow – got pulled off the line, had my bags checked twice and then got to go into a small room where I was aksed what I was doing in England. I was wearing black leather so someone said I looked l like a German terrorist – me – an Irish, Italian, English, Scottish,French girl??? Was very scary and this was in 1989! xx

We were coming back from France and I thought my husband was farting constantly, and he thought I was farting constantly, but it was the camembert stowed away in my backpack! (blush)Lady Jennie recently posted..Life in the Trenches – Chapter 18

I tried to carry a flask on board one time. The price of alcohol on airplanes is ridiculous! When we flew home from Michigan last week, I scored 2 FREE bottles of wine. The flight attendant knew how stressed I was flying with 2 small children. And you know what? It was horrible! Disgusting, actually. But you never let free alcohol go to waste.

Kim, this is so funny! I can easily see myself doing just this — saving food until later. Thank you, my friend, for warning me. Not that I’ve flown anywhere lately, but just in case, you know!

I hate to say it, but that little “mutt” doesn’t have good taste like my Sheltie, who wouldn’t give a flying hoot for an avocado sandwich! Now, roast beast?? That’s an entirely different story, ha!Debbie recently posted..Spring means time for Prom

Well you know, K, I’ve heard of bands of roving avocados creating havoc and anarchy everywhere they go. Yes, and I know I’ve read stories about those avocado renegades who refuse to be made into guacamole. Total rebellion going on everywhere all caused by wild avocados. I know if you’d known this, you would have put that avocado down like the beastie it was. Now you will have your picture on posters in every airport as the woman who tried to smuggle an avocado across the border.nan @ lbddiaries recently posted..I Would Do Anything For Love…

I haven’t been detained, but I used to work at the Charlotte airport. We used to celebrity watch. I think the silliest thing I ever saw was James Brown wearing his full length fur coat in Charlotte in August. In case you don’t know–August in CLT is about 99 degrees and 99 per cent humidity. He wasn’t singing “I Feel Good.”

Kim, those little sniffing mutts are the worse–that is if you don’t count the nosy passengers that stop to look why one is being pulled aside! I’m sorry this happened to you but at least you gave us a giggle! I could picture you alongside Mr. Liverpool saying, “It had to be you!” ha! OMG, priceless! I have never had such an experience but my mother did, not with a sniffing furry friend, mind you, but with a customs officer. He detected the smell of a half Iberian ham sandwich she had made herself before leaving Spain. You can imagine the brouhaha over bringing in a meat product into the country. After that, never again did she make herself a snack! hee hee! Hugs to you from Roxy and me! 🙂

On one of my last trips home from DC I felt like an official dumb ass when I discovered I had left the can of diet Pepsi in my carry-on…fortunately my teens weren’t there to roll their eyeballs at me!mamawolfe recently posted..Save the Children: State of the World’s Mothers

Good moral, Kim. Lesson learned. I have a friend who went through something similar. She was traveling from Germany back to California and just before she left Berlin, she picked up an apple from the hotel and put it in her purse, planning to eat it at the airport, and forgot about it. That apple made it all the way to California and if there’s one thing you should know about traveling to this state, it is absolutely verboten to bring fruit of any kind into our state. She was all the say home, but held up for hours, all because of the apple. Boy did she get into trouble.Monica recently posted..Lightning in a Jar: Love Unexpected

Jennie Liverpool

May 8, 2013 at 3:39 am

Well at least you didn’t have to strip off!

En route to Egypt with Suzanna (my daughter) I set off the scanner buzzers. Although I was frisked and Iexplained that the cause was probably my dental inplant, they were having none of it. I was marched off by two very burly women and taken to a room with one chair in it.

I really thought that this would be my “Midnight Express” moment. I had to strip off infront of said ladies, give them a twirl but fortunately, I was spared the rubber gloves treatment. The most embarrassing part? When I was led back to the line, I found Suzanna in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, taking photos, sending them to her Dad and sister and causing everyone around to stare at me, whispering ” Uh uh, looks like she’s had the rubber glove treatment”. Thanks Suze!

It took about 30 seconds before I received my first text saying, “It would be you”. Recognise a theme here………….?

I once had to fly to Vegas for work. I found out a day before the trip so I was pegged as a suspicious passenger and had to be frisked both ways. The first trip they missed this when I went through security, so I had to be escorted away from the gate. I am really thin and was wearing a very fitted shirt. They lady they took me to had to pad me down and I remember saying to her when she was feeling my top “Um, don’t you think you’d see something if I was hiding something.” She laughed in reply because she knew I was right.feeling beachie recently posted..On Patrol – wordless wednesday 05-08-13

Darling Kim, I have just tried to re-subscribe to your blog but it says I am already registered -eek, where are my email notifications going then when your do a new post – they haven’t gone into my junk mail either!
I have missed reading your words friend, so I hope it is all sorted out. I see you are not subscribed to my blog either – oh how I really hate technology some days – we were doing just fine then something out in the cosmos decided to mess us around!
I had to have a wee giggle about your sandwich story although how incredibly infuriating and frustrating – what did he think you were hiding in your avo!
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xoMandy – The Complete Cook Book recently posted..Lando’s Daughter’s Birthday Cake

You know, I have a chapter in my memoir (forth coming) about being deported from England. It gets worse if you have too much luggage. Great descriptions! I agree, don’t bring anything suspicious into England. Even half a sandwich.

Dad

Hey I LOVE to save my sandwiches LOL. But no mutt would be eating mine LOL. And just hearing this story reminds me of my mom.. it would be her to do this to me while traveling too LOL. I loved this story 🙂

Kim Sisto-Robinson

Oh Kim you make me laugh! And if you ever come to Australia and I hope you do, they’re very strict there! People often get in trouble for saving the fruit from the flight too. And hehe wouldn’t it be funny if you opened up your suitcase and you had a suitcase full of avocado and bologna sandwiches :PxxxLorraine @ Not Quite Nigella recently posted..Un-Fried Fried Chicken!

Kim Sisto-Robinson

You made me laugh and smile. But I cannot get over the loss of that sandwich. That’s a real shame. Nice to see you all got safely home though.countingducks recently posted..Some Years after The Engagement

Kim Sisto-Robinson

I don’t remember avocado being on the list of banned substances. Geez. Now you’ll have to eat the rubbery sandwich plate on the plane. Glad it wasn’t a corned beef and hash. OK – enough with the jokes. I can’t wait to hear what else you got into.reneejohnsonwrites recently posted..Why Words Matter

Really? All that trouble and embarrassment just because of 1/2 an avocado sandwich? I would probably snatch it back from the officer and finish up my sandwich right in front of him! hahahah….but hope that at least you had a nice flight and fun trip. 😛Amy Tong recently posted..Strawberry and Lime Sparkle

LOL – sorry they made it stressful for you. We had a bike chain and lock confiscated at the Paris airport. We brought it to lock up our luggage on the train while traveling through Italy, but apparently it was a dangerous weapon.Barbara @ Barbara Bakes recently posted..Cardamom-Orange Coffee Cake Loaf

This is indeed a very funny story about a very funny incident at Gatwick Airport – I remember that one of the teddy bears that the kids brought along on our trip was x-rayed rather carefully by the Bristih airport security personnel because the person behind us was joking that perhaps we were “hiding” s.th. inside the teddy bear.

Customs freaks me like you wouldn’t believe – it’s the being assessed, others making judgments and believing whatever they do because of whatever they see, the being powerless, being manhandled possibly. Really does freak me.

Glad you survived the sandwich incident. WOW! I would have been busted by nerves.Noeleen recently posted..Tracy in The Dark

One of our cats hated us going away and ‘defiled the suitcases any time she could’. I had visions of a sniffer dog FASCINATED by eau de cat piddle and one or other of us being dragged away. It hasn’t happened – but it always worried me.Elephant’s Child recently posted..Skywhale

Yes. Yes, I have. But MUCH worse. The Most Embarrassing Incident of My Life (TMEIOML) was on a cruise ship. I was with my parents. No, that’s not the embarrassing part. I was in a cabin by myself (this is important to the story). I had to, er, use the facilities and SOMEHOW the toilet clogged. Horrors. It simply would not flush, and the water began rising alarmingly high. Nearby was a toilet brush. I began trying to force the wads of toilet paper and business down the hole. No dice. If you’ve ever been on a cruise ship, you probably know you have a room attendant assigned especially for you. You know, if you need a new towel or something. You see him/her EVERY DAY. I could not stomach the idea of calling this nice young man to attend to this horrifying bit of business. Now I had a clogged toilet and a toilet brush that was, er, most soiled. Horrors. No one else sharing my room I might blame this on. SHIT SHIT SHIT. I looked around frantically. Where could I hide the brush at least? I had reached the conclusion that there was nothing to be done for the clog. I was actually wrapping the brush in plastic bags and going to toss it overboard when I came to my senses and realized that things would get exponentially worse when I was caught with the filthy brush, skulking across the Lido Deck toward the ship’s rail, ready to dispose of my cargo. I left the brush in the bathroom, called the room attendant, and fled. I had to see him for 5 more days. He was slightly less cheery upon seeing me after that. On my last day, I left him a nice tip and an apology note. Definitely TMEIOML.Ms. CrankyPants recently posted..Buon Giorno, Big Butt!

When flying to London last year we had a issue and they stopped us to search… our 2 stuffed animals, frogs. After many pat downs and worry they were going to be cut open, they let us go on our way with our stuffies!Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl recently posted..Weekly Garden Update